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Helen Kane Impersonation Contest
Helen Kane Impersonation Contests were contests which were held in the 20s and 30s by Helen Kane the "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl to find her double. The one who could sing and act in a way most resembling Helen Kane received a cash prize and was given a personal audition before the actress. A preliminary contest was held in the ballroom, where judges selected five girls from the total entries. These five appeared on stage with Miss Kane. One of the girls was eliminated each night thereafter until only the winner remained. The girls who were eliminated were given prizes and received an autographed picture of Helen Kane. The initial age to enter was 6-16, and later 4-18. The contests ran from 1929-1938. Winners were awarded a cash prize, a dress or jewelry, whereas children were awarded with toys. Several of the women who entered these contests went on to become the voice of Betty Boop, as the animated character who debuted in the Talkartoon series starting 1930 was partially based on Helen Kane. Quotes *Helen Kane: "I am most anxious to see what my best double in the state of Indiana looks like. I only hope that she makes a big hit at her stage appearance Monday night." *Helen Kane: "I held amateur contests for amateurs that I thought it would be fun and would stimulate business in the theatre." *Helen Kane: "We had Helen Kane's 'Boop-Boop-a-Doop' contests and these girls came in and I heard them personally myself, and selected them, and then they appeared at the theatre one night during the week and they sang and they were awarded $25, or maybe a dress." *Mae Questel: "The man who introduced us seemed to dwell longer on my likeness to Miss Kane than he did on the others, I guess I was the most surprised person in the theater when I was selected." *Bonnie Poe: "Miss Kane told me about the Helen Kane contest that was going to be held at the Riverside the following week and told me that she thought that it would be a very good idea if I joined the contest." Boop-Boop-a-Doop Festival (1930) Just now this "Boop-Boop-a-Doop thing is all the rage. Helen Kane has made it famous and Warner Brothers and the Little Theater are trying to find her best impersonators. Consequently and therefore a contest has been planned that will sift the participants through preliminary auditions semi-finals at the Enright and the finals at the Stanley Theater until the winners are revealed. Girls of any age are eligible and details of information are available at any of the Warner neighborhood theaters. There will be a junior group of contestants under 16 and a senior division for those 16 and over. Duplicate prizes are promised in both competitive sections. Helen is coming to town - in person - and that visit will add interest to the vocalizing. The contest starts April 15. Contestants 'Orpheum Theatre': *Margie Hines 'Albee Theatre': *Margie Hines 'Kenmoore Theatre': *Margie Hines 'Riverside Theatre': *Mae Questel *Margie Hines *Bonnie Poe 'Tri-Borough Theatre': *Mae Questel 'Shea's Buffalo Theatre': *Lorraine Ryan 'New York Theatre': *Claire Bart 'Chicago Oriental Theatre': *Ruth Havens 'Little Theater of Pittsburgh': *Baby Betty Jane 'Indiana Theatre': *Eleanor Sandusky *Bobbie Robinson *Mary Jane Kersey *Jeanne Gamso *Louise Carter *Eleanor Vulk *Kathryn Clark *Mary Ellen Huggins *Mary Katherine Music *"He's So Unusual" *"Ain'tcha" *"Do Something" *"I'm Dangerous Nan McGrew" *"Don't Be Like That" *"Is There Anything Wrong In That?" *"I Wanna Be Loved By You" *"I Owe You" Trivia *Claire Bart was made a special judge by Helen Kane and was later sent to hold "Poo Poo Padoo" contests in Indiana. *Margie Hines entered three "Boop-a-Doop" contests and then went on to create the initial voice for Betty Boop. *By 1930, Helen Kane became envious of Mae Questel using the "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl title at an RKO theatre where Questel had taken her place and made a complaint. Kane's request was heeded and Questel's title was changed. Reason for this was in most of the papers from 1929-1930 were saying that Mae had surpassed the chubby Helen. *According to the media, Mae Questel was the best Helen Kane impersonator, but according to Helen Kane, Claire Bart as picked by herself was the best Helen Kane impersonator. *Holding the contests allowed girls to impersonate Helen and copy her act. Kane claimed earlier in her career that she didn't mind people imitating her, but later got upset when most of the work in Hollywood for "Boop-a-Doop" singers was going to the impersonators and not her. *In 1932 when Mae Questel debuted as Betty Boop on radio with Max Fleischer, Helen wanted to know who "Betty Boop" was and why she was singing like her. *When Helen Kane's popularity died out her "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" look-alike contests were replaced by "Betty Boop Impersonation Contests" which ran around the same time, in which played out similar only instead of finding someone who looked like Helen Kane, the winner was someone who looked most like Paramount's animated star Betty Boop. The Betty Boop contests ran from the 30s to present day, the most notable contest held was the 1995 "Boop-A-Like Contest". See Also *Winners Extra Time (1929) *The Attractive Prize Winning Boop Boop a Doop Girl (1929) *Diminutive Bronx Elocution Teacher (1929) *Helen Kane Says Mae Questel Can No Longer Use "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" Title in RKO Act (1930) *They All Think They Can Boop-a-Doop (1930) *Five Boop-a-Doop Girls Chosen for Times-Indiana Theater Contest Finals (1930) *Eleanor Sandusky Best Boop-Dooper (1930) Category:News Category:Newspapers Category:$250,000 Infringement Lawsuit Category:Kane v. Fleischer et al., 248 A.D. 554 (New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division New York State Library, Albany. 130.)